An Approach for Modeling Supplier Resilience

Abstract

Supplier selection plays a key role in the context of supply chain management. As recent emphasis has been placed on supply chain resilience, so too should such emphasis be placed on resilient suppliers. In particular, this work evaluates how different suppliers enable the supply chain to withstand the impacts of a disruption and return performance to a desired level in a timely manner. The primary measure of supply chain performance is taken to be availability, or the extent to which the products produced by the supply chain are available for use (measured as a ratio of uptime to total time of the use of the product). Available systems are important in many industries, particularly in the Department of Defense, where weapons systems are required in short notice but undergo regular maintenance activities. In addition to availability, suppliers are also measured according to their recovery rate, quality, and delivery rate. Suppliers are evaluated against these four criteria using a multi-criteria decision analysis technique.